Pentagon Says Total Cost of Border Troops Exceeds $200 Million

Military officials from the Pentagon were on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and disclosed to members of Congress how much Donald Trump’s latest political prank is costing U.S. taxpayers, the Associated Press reported.

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According to the Pentagon, the deployment of active military and national guard troops to the U.S./Mexico border will cost approximately $210 million. This total includes $72 million for nearly 6,000 active-duty troops recently sent to the border to support Customs and Border Protection. It also includes $138 million (so far) for over 2,0000 national guard troops who have been performing a border mission since April.

The information is included in a report given to Congress on Tuesday but not released to the public. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report, however, and published the information it contained. After the AP story was published the Pentagon then released a public statement which confirmed the active-duty portion of the deployments is estimated at $72 million. But the new statement did not mention the $138 million in National Guard costs.

The total costs for troops at the border will grow beyond the current combined estimate of $210 million if the active-duty mission is extended beyond the current completion date of Dec. 15. Officials said an extension appeared likely but had not yet been agreed upon.

We reported yesterday:

“All the troops should be home by Christmas, as originally expected, Army Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan said in an interview Monday.

“Our end date right now is 15 December, and I’ve got no indications from anybody that we’ll go beyond that,” said Buchanan, who leads the land forces of U.S. Northern Command.”

The AP reported that the Pentagon is working on an adjustment to the original mission that would give the active-duty troops who are operating in Texas, Arizona and California the authority to defend Customs and Border Protection personnel if necessary.

The troops, who include military police, are currently authorized to defend themselves.

About 2,800 of the active-duty troops are in South Texas, far from the main migrant caravan in Tijuana, Mexico, south of California.

The movement of the Central American migrants into Mexico in October was the stated reason that President Donald Trump ordered the military to provide support for Customs and Border Protection.

Trump called the migrant caravan of woman and children an “invasion.” Some of his critics include retired military officers who have said he used the military deployment as a political tool in advance of the November 6 midterm elections.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said Tuesday the Pentagon’s cost report shows the mission was a “charade.”

“These soldiers spent weeks away from home and the Pentagon wasted millions of taxpayer dollars so President Trump could stoke fears of asylum seekers and try to influence election results,” Feinstein said. “Using our military men and women as political pawns to support an anti-immigrant agenda is a low point, even for this president.”

On Tuesday, Trump said he was sure the troops are happy to be on the border mission, even though it means being away from home over Thanksgiving.

“Don’t worry about the Thanksgiving. These are tough people,” Trump told reporters before flying to Florida. “They know what they’re doing and they’re great and they’ve done a great job. You’re so worried about the Thanksgiving holiday for them. They are so proud to be representing our country on the border where if you look at what’s happening, Mexico, the people from Tijuana are saying, wow these are tough people. They’re fighting us.”

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.